A search warrant was improperly obtained through "rumors or reputations" and the resulting criminal charges against a 57-year-old Roseville man have been dismissed.

Macomb Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski recently dismissed charges against William McCleese, who was charged with manufacture of between 5 and 45 kilograms of marijuana and maintaining a drug house after police raided his home nearly three years ago. McCleese claimed he grew the pot under the state Medical Marijuana Act.

The ruling means he and his wife can receive the items that had been confiscated and were being sought for forfeiture by Macomb prosecutors, including $115,000 in cash, houses and several vehicles.

Judge Druzinksi's decision follows a state Court of Appeals' opinion in March that nullified the search warrant because a Roseville police officer included in a request for a warrant "conclusory" statements and "self-serving assertions" based on the use of "rumors or reputations" that drug activity was taking place at a house. The 39th District Court magistrate should have denied the warrant, the court said.

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McCleese's attorney, Patricia Maceroni, said previosuly she was "extremely gratified" with the ruling.

"It was absolutely horrible," she said. "They've (the McCleeses) suffered a severe economic penalty, not to mention the mental anguish of criminal charges."

Maceroni could not be reached for comment this week.

McCleese and his wife, Sharon, 58, had regained two of their vehicles but Druzinski's ruling required the return of the remaining items: the cash, two single-family residential homes; a duplex; a multi-family structure; three Chevy vehicles; a Harley Davidson motorcycle; and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia.

William and Sharon McCleese were arrested following a June 2010 search of their Secretariat Street home that netted 55 marijuana plants growing in the basement. William McCleese showed a patient card and Sharon McCleese showed a caregiver card under the MMA. Police and prosecutors said the number of plants exceeded the 12-per-patient allowance under the MMA. Charges were later dropped against Sharon McCleese.

The appeals court also reversed Druzinski's decision preventing McCleese's use of an "affirmative defense" under the MMA because McCleese failed to keep the marijuana in a closed, locked facility, and had too many plants. The appeals court said that the state Supreme Court's decision in People v. King in May 2012 means McCleese didn't have to meet all the requirements for storage and number of plants.

The search warrant was conducted two weeks after McCleese was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to unreleated drug charge.